


Spread Ashes, Dimmed Light

by ScribbleWriting65



Category: Super Smash Brothers
Genre: Gen, Smash Mansion, World of Light (Super Smash Brothers)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-07
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-10-05 22:47:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17333837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScribbleWriting65/pseuds/ScribbleWriting65
Summary: Light is often portrayed as protection. Now, it is revealed as destruction.





	1. Plan of Attack

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Sorry I couldn't get a story out in December, hope this makes up for it a bit. Tell me what you think, and have a good day!

Mario awoke with a yawn, rubbing his eyes as he got dressed and walked to the Mansion’s kitchen to make himself some coffee. The Mansion was silent as he prepared his morning drink, but Mario didn’t take notice, too tired to care. He appreciated the silence anyway, the solitude being divine for him at the moment, away from the regular noise of the Mansion and Mushroom Kingdom.

Soon, a familiar whistling voice came from the hallway, cutting off the silence. However, Mario enjoyed the sound, from both familiarity and new energy from his coffee.

“You got any coffee left there, dude?”  
“Knock-a yourself out, Sonic.”  
“Thanks, man.”

Mario gave a simple nod while giving Sonic the pot. Sonic also had some sleep left in his eyes, but seeing that coffee gave them a familiar spark, his energy already being palpable from the first sip.

“So, did you sleep bad or somethin’? We all know you wake up early, but this is weird, even for you.”  
“Yet you are-a here with me. What does that-a say about you?”  
Sonic smirked behind his cup. “Hey, I’m the Fastest Thing Alive. Of course, I’m gonna be hyperactive, and that carries over to sleep.”

Mario simply nodded and continued drinking his coffee. He and Sonic may have been fierce rivals out of aggression when they first met, but now they competed out of friendship and respect towards each other.

Link awoke after them, making one of his Stamina Potions with a yawn, giving the two fighters a nod as he gathered ingredients for his concoction. Others slowly started waking up and partaking in their own morning rituals. Pit, Dark Pit, and Palutena all downed a Drink of the Gods as they talked about previous matches and teased each other. R.O.B. quietly plugged himself into a nearby outlet, completely re-energized with a ding and focused lenses.

The rest of the fighters made their way to the main hall and kitchen, chattering amongst themselves. Mario simply looked around, ready to begin another day of ferocious matches with his friends from across the worlds. As he waited, he let his mind wander, pondering which opponents he would face today. Would he face one of his longtime Smash buddies like Fox or Kirby? Would he be teamed up with Peach in a battle against Daisy and Luigi?

“Hey guys, where are the Hands? Shouldn’t they be out here by now to give us our matches?”

Ness’ voice reached Mario’s ears, making him stop his train of thought. Looking at the clock on the wall, he could see that Ness was right. It was 9:30, and the Hands always held morning greetings and the day’s match arrangements at 9:00 sharp. Mario looked around, a few of the other fighters having also caught Ness’ question. Mario walked up to the nearby announcement board, finding it entirely empty.

This was troubling; not even a day-off announcement. No personal posts from other fighters either. Nothing. This was odd to Mario, having only seen this once before. He wasn’t sure if this was like before, and he prayed that it wasn’t, but he still ran his mind through what they could do in this situation.

He made his way to the top of the central room’s main staircase.

“Everyone, can I have-a your attention please?”

Everybody stopped talking and looked to Mario, waiting for what he had to say.

“Link, Pikachu, Samus, Kirby, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Ness, Luigi, Jigglypuff, Captain Falcon, and Fox, please come with me!”

Everyone looked around as the called fighters walked with Mario, surprised and curious looks on all faces. Whispers started going around, questioning why the Original 12 were needed. They held a special place amongst all Smashers, holding some of the biggest responsibilities. If they were all needed, what was going on?

The Original 12 walked to an off-limits section of the Mansion. Mario looked at them with a serious expression that was rare for his normally joyful face as he opened an unimportant looking door. The fighters were led into a small room with a simple conference table and enough chairs for each of them. As they each took a seat, Mario and Link at the ends and the others on the sides, the atmosphere was silent but tense.

“All of you are aware of this morning, correct?” Mario said softly. The others nodded.

“This has happened before, hasn’t it?” Link asked with caution. He may be a different incarnation than the Hero of Twilight that attended the previous two tournaments, but he knew what happened before, as both his world’s gods and the Hands generally informed him of what happened before upon receiving an invitation.

“If my hunch is-a right, then yes.”

“Poyo…” Kirby softly squeaked. His eyes held sadness and fear, as he, along with Luigi, Ness, and King Dedede, were some of the few survivors who saw the true scope of the enemy’s plan.

“You really think something like the Subspace Crisis can happen again bro?” Luigi asked nervously. The others gave their own grave expressions, remembering their own fights from what happened.

“I’m not-a sure, but what’s happening with the Hands and message board today mirrors what-a happened when the Subspace Crisis began. The Hands set some protocols in case these events-a passed, and-a now we are following them.” The others gave a sharp nod, giving Mario clarity to carry out his duty in this time of concern.

“Fox,” the ace pilot looked at Mario with full attention, “I need you, Falco, and Wolf to scan any areas nearby for disturbances.”  
“Consider it done.”

“Kirby.”  
“Poyo?”  
“I need-a you to gather Meta Knight and Dedede’s forces. Have them look around their respective patrols for any oddities, and-a prepare for battle.”  
“Poyo poyo!” Kirby gave a nod and a salute. Mario gave a nod and small smile in response.

“Ness, I need you to gather your friends and the other psychics in the Mansion. Work-a together to make a psychic shield for the Mansion. We don’t-a want the enemy knowing our plans through our thoughts.”  
Ness gave a thumbs-up. “You’ve got it.”

“Samus, Captain Falcon, and Link, gather the remaining warriors and any weapons and resources you can-a find. We’re-a going to need all the firepower we can get.” The three gave a nod in response, already discussing where they should split off to cover the most ground.

“DK.” The gorilla looked to Mario.  
“Go with them, use whatever means a-necessary to get the villains to help us.” Donkey Kong gave a thump to his chest and a thumbs-up.

“What do you need-a me to do, bro?” Luigi had a nervous expression, but it steeled into resolution, determined to prevent the last crisis’ events from passing.  
“I-a need you, Yoshi, Jigglypuff, and-a Pikachu to talk to the other Smashers. Inform them on what’s going on without-a freaking them out. Clear heads are needed at this-a time, and you four are some of the most liked and trusted amongst all Smashers.”

“You can-a count on us, bro!” Luigi said with a thumbs-up, the other fighters giving their own forms of confirmation.

“What will you do, Mario?” Samus asked.

“The Hands’ office has-a something we need, I’ll get it ready. You all-a know what to do. We can’t let the world fall apart again.”

The others gave stern nods as they disbanded, scattering throughout the Mansion to fulfill their duties. Mario went to the Hands’ office and began his search. The office was large but simplistic, the walls being covered with shelves of books, a desk in the back, and a simple table and couch set up in the center of the room. Mario went to the back of the desk, opening a secret compartment of the central drawer to find a small device.

Mario took off his glove, activating the device with a fingerprint. It was a tracker, one that Master Hand and Crazy Hand put into themselves for scenarios like this. It would take time to warm up and show any results, so Mario decided to check on the other Smashers, starting with Samus, Captain Falcon, and Link.

“How are the preparations-a coming along?”  
“They’re going smoothly,” Samus responded, “Simon and Richter have added their relics to the arsenal, and the Light-Hearted crew has given us an army’s worth of weapons.”  
She pointed her thumb over her shoulder, allowing Mario to see Palutena carrying a massive club, Pit carrying a cannon, and Dark Pit carrying his staff over one shoulder and a blade in his other hand. Both Pit and Palutena waved as they added their weapons, while Dark Pit gave a huff as he added his weapons.

  
“Where are Falcon and Link?”  
“Over here.” Link called, carrying a massive club of his own over his shoulder. Captain Falcon was close behind with a variety of weapons, including Death’s Scythe, a Healing Field, a scrambling Crash Bomb, and other tools of destruction.  
“Everything we have should be found and distributed within the next few hours.”  
“Excellent. Keep up the good work.” Mario left them with a nod to check on the others.

Kirby made good progress, already having Meta Knight and King Dedede’s full cooperation and manpower. Ness was nearly prepared, as he and Mewtwo were putting the last touches of power into the Mansion’s barrier. When Mario went to check on Luigi, he was surprised. Luigi looked like he was about to pass out on the couch. Mario looked at him with pity, sitting next to him and offering a cup of juice.

“You-a doing alright, bro?”  
“Yeah. Just-a tired from talking to everybody.” Luigi said as he drank the juice. “They’re not in-a chaos, but they’re nervous, especially the new ones.”  
“Thank you, Luigi. You’re-a doing great, and the others are there to help as well.”  
“Thanks, bro.”

Mario gave a nod as he rose and walked away. He knew that Luigi could handle this; he had proven his mettle many times before, especially during his ghost-hunting adventures, but the red-clothed plumber couldn’t help but be concerned for his green-clad kin.

“Hey bro?”  
“Hm?” Mario looked back at his brother.  
“We can do this, can’t we?”  
Mario looked at his brother’s eyes, seeing great trauma and fear. Luigi may have saved everyone with Ness and Dedede’s help, but the Subspace Crisis left him the most scarred.  
“Sure we can, bro. Just like back home.” He said with a nod.  
Luigi gave a weak nod and smile. “Just like back home.”


	2. Flash of Defeat

_Beep Beep. Beep Beep._

Mario awoke from his sleep, groggily reaching for the scanner on the nearby table. Any sleep within his eyes vanished once he saw the main screen for the scanner, being replaced by curiosity. He’d seen some odd things in his time at the Smash Mansion, but this was bizarre, even for Mario’s standards.

There were multiple hits on the scanner. More than the typical limit of two. Mario knocked on the scanner, thinking it was broken, but the machine just kept getting more and more readings. Mario quickly got up and looked for Fox, the resident technician amongst the Original 12. He found Fox in the main lobby area, taking a final inventory of the arsenal that the Mansion had gathered yesterday.

“Fox, I-a need your help.”  
“Sure thing, what do you need?”  
“I-a think there’s something wrong with this scanner. It’s picking up more than what it should.”  
“Here, let me see.”

Mario handed the scanner to Fox, who checked the settings on the machine with a look of curiosity and concern in his eyes. This only made Mario more concerned, not wanting any more surprises for a while.

“It’s working perfectly fine, but…”  
“But-a what?”  
“It seems that the signals are getting fainter like they’re going somewhere. Let me get Falco and Wolf. We can put this into the Great Fox to help track where these signals are going.”  
“Thank you, Fox.”

Fox gave a simple nod and went on his way, calling Falco on his communicator. Mario decided to check on the rest of the 12 and their progress. Ness had finished the barrier and was using the extra time to talk with Lucas and some of the other Kid Smashers. Luigi was still tired, but ready to face the coming day. With all preparations made, Mario assembled everyone in the main hall.

“Thank you all for-a being here. We don’t have-a much time, so I’ll make this quick. A troubling situation has come to pass, as you all have noticed.”

“Is it about the Hands’ absence?” Isabelle asked.

Mario gave a simple nod in response. “Those of us that were in the Brawl tournament know what happened before as the Subspace Crisis.” Shivers and whispers crawled through the room, intensifying the already heavy air. “A great force of evil, known as-a Tabuu, nearly destroyed our-a world, and what-a happened yesterday with the message board mirrors what happened when the Subspace Crisis began.”

“I may have been late to the party when that freak showed up,” Sonic spoke out amongst the crowd. “But I saw what he was capable of, and it wasn’t pretty. Just tell us what you need from us Mario, and we’re with you all the way.” The other fighters gave their nods in agreement with Sonic’s statement, bringing a smile to Mario’s face.

“Thank-a you. Now we can-a carry out the plan. Anyone with ships, take those that can’t fly or have high-speed travel with-a you. Anyone that can-a fly, follow the ships. The Great-a Fox will lead us to the Hands.” Fox gave a nod amongst the crowd.

“I cannot promise that-a this will be easy. But I know that all of-a you have been brought here on your strengths. So please, stand-a with me as we restore order to our world. Let’s-a go!” Mario raised his fist in the air in his signature vigor, drawing cheers and gestures of determination amongst the Smashers.

The Smashers walked out to the clearing that surrounded the Mansion. Various ships, like Samus’ Gunship, the Halberd, and the Great Fox, had already landed and were being examined by their pilots. Isabelle and Villager were boarding Samus’ Gunship with curiosity in their eyes. The Princesses were escorted onto the Great Fox, while Snake and Lucario both joined Meta Knight on the Halberd as they did during the Subspace Crisis. As Young Link was boarding the Great Fox, he noticed Sonic standing by himself, stretching out his limbs, and was curious as to who he was going to ride with.

“Hey Sonic, aren’t you going to get into one of the ships? You aren’t exactly a swimmer, and we’ll be going over the ocean.”  
“I know, but I’ve got my own way of getting there.” He said with a wink. 7 gems appeared out of thin air and surrounded Sonic, making the Child of Time stand back, eyes wide with intrigue. The gems went into Sonic and he rose into the air with a small shout, turning his blue fur a shining gold with a golden aura, eyes red like rubies in the sun.

“What is that!?”  
“This is how I travel when I need express fare. Super Sonic Style!” He said with a twirl in the air, giving Young Link a thumbs-up. The young warrior returned the gesture and went to the Great Fox, once again amazed at what he missed since he left the Melee tournament.

With everyone loaded onto ships and ready to fly, the Smashers departed to what would undoubtedly be an intense battle. The ride was mostly silent, save for small conversations and slight strategizing for when they reached their destination. Fox eventually found the Hands’ tracker points, leading the rest of the Smashers to a large clearing that led to a cliff overlooking the ocean. Everyone left the ships, only to go wide-eyed at what they saw.

Master Hands, hundreds of them. They were traveling away from the cliff, towards some sort of celestial being. It had massive wings that glowed like rainbows surrounding a mass of light, giving off a voice that sounded like an angelic choir.

However, the being saw the fighters and rang out a shrill sound, causing the Smashers to shiver, and the Master Hands to start moving towards them. Mario was trying to figure out what they could do but was distracted by memories from the reveal of Tabuu, when he had first seen the villain controlling Master Hand with chains of light. The sound of a weapon snapped him out of his stasis.

“Don’t let a single one get away!”

Fox had drawn his Blaster, shaking the other fighters out of their own stupors and into battle ready positions. The fighters were tense, ready for the coming war.

“We’ll each need to take down about ten.” Marth said, breaking the silence.  
“Stow your fear, it’s now or never!” Zelda stood beside the Hero King. Her face was tense, sparks of magic appearing around her fingertips.  
“We’ll win this. I know we will!” Pit encouraged sternly, his own bow ready to either shoot or break into his signature blades.

However, what happened next caused everyone to stop. The Hands disintegrated, turning into streams of blue light that gathered at the celestial being. They were being absorbed, gathering for…something.

Shulk suddenly zoned out, a vision blazing across his eyes. Everyone was…consumed. No matter how they tried to dodge what seemed to be beams of light, they were caught and evaporated. The vision ended, Shulk’s eyes now holding great tension and fear. He turned to the rest of the Smashers as the streams of light continued to gather.

“RUN!!”

The sound of the beams suddenly stopped, the beams themselves turning into a black hole. The break in space suddenly exploded into beams of light and raced towards the fighters as they started running, intent on consuming them and ending their tales.

Link stood his ground, blocking off several beams of light with his sword and shield, but lost his footing. This one moment was all the light needed, vaporizing the Hero of the Wild, leaving nothing in its wake. Samus tried to shoot them away but was soon consumed herself. Not even Zelda’s magic or Mewtwo’s psychic abilities could save them from the burning light.

Sonic ran as fast as he could, seeing his friends be consumed all around him. Beams raced all around him, only barely missing the Blue Blur as he dodged any that got too close. ‘Come on Sonic, you gotta keep running, save anyone you can!’ He raced in his head. ‘Gotta-‘

“Pika pika!”

Sonic turned his head, seeing a terrified Pikachu a small distance away, barely avoiding his own beams of light. Sonic slightly slowed, reaching out his hand to the Electric Mouse.

“C’mon buddy! I’ve gotcha!”

Pikachu jumped, tears in his eyes at a possibility of escaping this terror. He jumped for Sonic, but it was too late. The mouse was vaporized like the others in midair, the light consuming a teary-eyed Sonic right after.

The other fighters met the same fate. Bayonetta was caught after using her Bat Within ability. Both the Pokemon Trainer and Bowser tried pushing back the beams, but their efforts were fruitless. The light caught Captain Falcon before he could even jump into the Blue Falcon. Lucario and Greninja both managed to avoid one beam each before being consumed.

Kirby raced across the sky on his Warp Star, several beams of light all around him. He weaved through the clouds like a comet, gaining more and more speed in hopes to get away. With a shout, Kirby raced straight ahead, hoping to escape his trackers. He vanished in a burst of stars just before the light caught him, warping to another place.

The light was ruthless, moving on from the Smashers to the rest of the world. No one was safe from its wrath; the whole galaxy being consumed in a brilliant white light. When the dust had settled, the world was darker than even during Tabuu’s reign of terror.

Small wisps of light floated across the sky, innocent souls searching for their bodies amongst the barren wasteland that was once their homes. Out of this dulled sky came a star, crashing into the ground and running its’ pink passenger face-first into the dusty stone. Kirby arose slowly, wobbling on his feet as he looked out before him.

The world was broken. Fragments of familiar locations roughly joined together by bands of light. Sprawling cities, mighty volcanoes, and forests with gigantic fungi were mashed together. Massive castles floated in the sky, undisturbed in the new morning’s light.

Kirby looked around for any of his friends, finding that he was all alone. The Star Warrior fell to the ground, tears falling as he mourned the loss of his comrades. They had prepared for this, and what good did that do? His world…his friends…they were gone. They had failed. He had failed.

The tears cascaded down Kirby’s face, the sky alone bearing witness to his wails. Meta Knight, Dedede, Mario, the Kid Smashers. All of them had been…killed by that THING. The thought of the angelic demon that destroyed his world rose Kirby to his feet, eyes now burning with anger, even as tears continued to fall.

This was no time to sit and accept defeat. Kirby may have been alone, but that would have to do. He would find his friends, defeat that demon, and save the world, or die trying. With determination burning in his heart, Kirby set off to reclaim and awaken his world’s undying light.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed the story! I'm thinking of doing a series of one-shots or another story based on World of Light (Specifically different interactions like certain awakening fights and such) or Smash in general, so let me know what you guys would like to see if I did. Have a good day, and keep on Smashing!


End file.
